


a night under the stars [brief hiatus]

by yuto_da



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Boys In Love, Domestic Fluff, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Idols, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Unrequited Love, juust not right now, seonghwa is in love and so is hongjoong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-15 12:49:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17529044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuto_da/pseuds/yuto_da
Summary: “When I fall asleep, you’re carrying me back to bed, as punishment.” Hongjoong warned as he sat down and got comfortable.“You're really heavy though.” Seonghwa retorted back and received a kick in the gut.“Deal with it.” Hongjoong said and looked at the screen.Or the one where I wrote an unnecessarily long fic about Hongjoong and Seonghwa.





	a night under the stars [brief hiatus]

**Author's Note:**

> This is another sort of short story I wrote to kill some time and beat writers block last year but I was too busy to ever actually post it. It'll be less than 5 or 7 chapters since I really do have to write my other stories but it's another pastime story of mine. Please tell me what you think.

It was always like this with Hongjoong. He’d react violently to anything Seonghwa did, be it a simple compliment, a flirtatious comment offhandedly said, or even a simple hug. His reaction was always so severe. He’d either vehemently deny anything Seonghwa did, or just flat out ignore him. But Seonghwa wasn’t bothered. After all, those reactions were only when they were on camera. Off camera, Hongjoong reacted very well to anything Seonghwa did or said around him or about him. ****  
****

His cheeks would color brightly if Seonghwa complimented him or flirted with him, regardless of their other members presence in the room. He’d laugh nervously, that laugh that made his cheeks rise high and his eyes close, and would smack him with his hand and tell him to stop. ****  
** **

Seonghwa never did. He knew, more than the others, how incredible Hongjoong was, but he also knew how insecure and unconfident he was. Seonghwa had been there for Hongjoong more times than he could remember, each time, the younger man wouldn’t say anything and would just curl up near him, seeking comfort, but the physical kind, the kind that didn’t require words because they both knew what he needed. ****  
** **

Seonghwa had wanted to be there for Hongjoong while Hongjoong needed someone he could trust. Someone who wouldn’t ask anything and would know what he needed even before he did, and that person was Seonghwa, his kind, caring, unrealistically handsome and nice hyung. Seonghwa had also seen the many sides to Hongjoong and he’d frankly never tired of it. When he was feeling down, when he was happy, when he was excited, when he was scared, everything about him, Seonghwa enjoyed watching it a bit too much, and got frequently called out on it by his own members. ****  
****

They all teasingly called them their parents; Hongjoong was the dad, as he was the more strict one out of the two, and Seonghwa, the kind soul yet also rather strict, was considered the mom, and honestly, Seonghwa understood why. ****  
** **

They fought and joked around with each other with their relationship best described as a marriage, but they were serious when it was needed. When Seonghwa injured his ankle as a result of near-constant practice and had to sit out practice for a few days, Hongjoong had -unknowingly- assumed his role as a mother, and had made sure the others were fed, and hydrated --especially Mingi and Yunho, they were the most troublesome duo Seonghwa had to deal with, choosing to practice until the dance was literally _perfect_ instead of eating or resting. ****  
** **

Seonghwa had found it unbearably adorable, watching Hongjoong try to herd them all into their respective bedrooms before they passed out on the couch, or follow in Jongho’s example and proclaim the floor a suitable place for rest. Seonghwa used to drag one by one, each one of them into their bedrooms, sometimes he’d carry them if necessary but as they grew together and spent more time together, he’d say it once and if they failed to listen, one look would be enough and they’d be stumbling over each other to get to their bedrooms. ****  
****

Hongjoong, though, was new. He had no technique or a ‘ _look that guaranteed pain or a smaller portion of breakfast_ -not that he’d ever willingly deprive his younger members of food- as Mingi once explained when he asked why that always worked. Hongjoong was trying to be patient and understanding, taking care to make sure each one was fed before they went to the television but sometimes, it wouldn’t work. ****  
** **

Mingi and Yunho tended to be the troublemakers of their group. Their energy and personalities were very similar which resulted in a tight-knit friendship between the two. Seonghwa really loved seeing them together since Mingi wasn’t a very sociable person, preferring to stick to the seven people he knew and was comfortable with rather than go out of his comfort zone and interact with new people. Seonghwa and the others had no problem with it, they all loved seeing him happy and his energy was something that brought the mood up during hard times but when Yunho joined the team, the two almost immediately hit it off. ****  
** **

This resulted in their dorm, practice room, car rides, and anytime they ate being overwhelmed by their energy. Yunho was their local ‘ _dumbass_ ’, or the one who had the least sensible ideas that almost always resulted in either him, or Mingi, or one of the younger ones making a ruckus. ****  
** **

It wasn’t that bad if one thought about it on the surface. The two were dancers, so it’s natural they’d be interested in dance and would do so in any opportunity, but when they were in the middle of a meal and Yunho cracks a really really lame joke that has not only Mingi and all the others, -not including Seonghwa. He usually just shakes his head in exasperation- cracking up in laughter, one could easily understand why Seonghwa called them the ‘troublemakers’.

Hongjoong, also a very excitable young man, enjoyed games just as much as his younger teammates but when Seonghwa --the only one capable of handling Yunho and Mingi-- was out of service, it was only reasonable -and expected- that his patience and determination would wear thin. Seonghwa tended to intervene then and his legendary look would make its appearance for the day, and the Yunho and Mingi pair would become as submissive and pliant as a freshly born baby, only responding to outside stimuli.

* * *

Seonghwa also found many things about Hongjoong adorable, but there were also times when he’d feel his heart speed up and his palms would get damp. Seonghwa had long since developed a stealthy way to dry his palms and act as natural when that would happen, but each time, it took him by surprise and left him wanting more.

Those times frequently occurred when they were practicing. On a regular basis, their practice lasted almost ten hours --those tight moves aren’t cheap, little ones-- and outside of their joint dances, they danced separately and individually tried to improve their own moves, becoming better with each individual practice that shone when they performed together.

Currently, each member occupied a certain wall. The walls in their practice room had four walls. One near the door, one opposite to that one, one at the back with the sign of their company and one at the front. Three members were facing one wall, the other three on the opposite one and the last two on the one furthest from the door. Seonghwa tended to be closer to the wall near the door where, coincidentally, their water bottles, towels and re-energizing food was kept.

In between his practice, when he got too tired, Seonghwa would move for a sip of water and would turn to observe how his members were doing. Wooyoung, Yunho and Yeosang were practicing hard together, the former two assisting the latter in certain parts, while Mingi and San would be together as well near him, leaving Jongho and Hongjoong together.

Seonghwa would watch them all, still sipping on his drink, when his eyes would naturally drift back to Hongjoong, and what he saw almost always took his breath away. Seonghwa didn’t want to draw attention to himself and continued sipping his drink, trying to act casual, all the while his eyes never left Hongjoong.

They all had their own styles of dance. Wooyoung’s was sexy, filled with lip bites and suggestive smirks, Mingi was clean cut yet held a certain swag about it. Yeosang's was rather elegant and smooth. San was fluid, capable of moving his body in ways Seonghwa wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before while Jongho and Yunho were powerful and strong, captivating you instantly but Hongjoong’s….Seonghwa was only capable of describing it as a style you’d instantly know whose in charge.

 _He_ led the dance, _he_ taught it how to move, not the other way around. He commanded it. He owned it. It was his stage, and everyone else were just spectators. That was the only way Seonghwa could describe it. Powerful. Captivating. Interesting. Fun. Sexy. Charming. Fluid. Unrealistically good facial expressions. All the adjectives in the dictionary couldn't quite describe how Hongjoong danced.

Seonghwa never tired of watching him, taking any opportunity to watch him and to observe how he did it. How he managed to be a charming, unbelievably charismatic person on stage and camera, yet acted like a child majority of the time when he wasn't in front of a camera, choosing to spend his time in front of a computer or bothering his younger members was something Seonghwa was yet to discover.

Seonghwa understood a lot of Hongjoong, but that vast duality he had, was something he’d never gotten used to.

* * *

But the times Seonghwa loved the most had to be when they were alone. No cameras, no unnecessarily long and overdone script, no members. Just the two of them in their room, long past the time they were supposed to sleep.

Hongjoong was predictably enough on a computer, and Seonghwa was laying down, exhausted after a day of cleaning and practice, and was browsing through his phone, checking up on the comments underneath their posts as well as reading up what’s been going on in their country.

Soon enough, Seonghwa got tired of that and locked his screen, momentarily sparing his eyeballs from the harsh blue light. Seonghwa crawled on his elbows towards Hongjoong, who sat on the edge of the bed, head lowered and focused on the screen.

Seonghwa discreetly looked over his shoulder and at the screen, not understanding a single thing he saw on the computer, but fascinated by how fascinated and focused Hongjoong was. Hongjoong grinned as he clicked on something, and being as close as he was, Seonghwa heard something play out through his earphones. It was slow-paced but still held a sort of excitable yet sad melody to it, filling with Seonghwa with a kind of happy yet sad feeling. It reminded him of their trainee days, unsure if they’d be eliminated next month or not.

“What is that?” Seonghwa asked, but since Hongjoong had earphones in and couldn’t hear Seonghwa behind him, suddenly feeling a hand brush his shoulder almost made him jump ten feet in the air.

Hongjoong whirled around and ripped the earphones out. “Seonghwa!? What are you doing?”

Seonghwa quirked an eyebrow, amused. “Nothing, Joong. I was just asking what that was.” Seonghwa pointed to the computer and the track still playing on it.

Hongjoong looked down at his track and restarted it, handing one earphone over to Seonghwa. He clicked play when Seonghwa wore the other earphone and waited for his response, slightly nervous.

“Ah, I can’t hear well, Joong.” Seonghwa said and Hongjoong looked down, wondering if he’d accidentally lowered the volume but felt Seonghwa tug on his shirt and pull him further into the bed. Seonghwa then pushed the computer out of Hongjoong’s lap and rested it on the bed near his lap, angling it so that the earphones had no problem reaching him.

Seonghwa then rested his head in Hongjoong’s lap and listened to the track, while looking up at the composer, meeting his eyes and maintaining contact as he listened. The song had no lyrics and need a bit more work and polishing but it was very.....emotional. It held a certain sadness and melancholy to it, the lack of lyrics only amplifying that emotion and leaving Seonghwa with the urge to cry.

“How is it?” Hongjoong asked tentatively, almost afraid.

“It’s really nice, Joong. I feel like crying.” Seonghwa said, reassuring the younger man.

“Really? I think it needs a bit more work.” Hongjoong turned back to the computer but Seonghwa was faster, shutting the screen and removing the earphone from his ear and carrying them both to the desk on the side. Seonghwa turned off the charger before going to the bed, ignoring Hongjoong’s indignant squawks of protest as he forcefully manhandled him into bed.

“What are you doing, Hwa? Why’d you take the computer away?” Hongjoong asked, looking at the older male with a confused expression.

“You’re going to sleep, that’s what I’m doing. You’ve been working on that since 7, Joong. It’s almost midnight. Don’t waste your day off on working, rest a bit, okay? You work hard for all of us, and we appreciate it, but we also need you to rest, okay?”

Seonghwa had manhandled Hongjoong into a position that had their faces facing each other. There was literally no light in the room, the only one being the computer had recently been turned off leaving Hongjoong and Seonghwa in the darkness, thus unable to detect how far their faces were to each other.

“But I hadn’t saved it! I could lose all my progress!” Hongjoong whined but shuffled around, trying to find a comfortable position.

“You told me you set it to automatically save every five minutes, so it should have saved when you played it for me. It’s fine. The song won’t disappear. But you will if you don’t rest right now.”

“I’m not that weak, Hwa.” Hongjoong argued but was proven otherwise when he yawned loudly.

“Mmm. Get some sleep, Joong.” Seonghwa said and moved to turn away but was stopped by Hongjoong’s hand on his shirt, preventing him from turning around.

“What?” Seonghwa asked, looking down at the clenched hand and back up at the younger man…but he was already asleep. Seonghwa sighed, a bit exasperated but didn’t turn around again. He pulled Hongjoong’s body closer to his as he too fell asleep.

* * *

Things weren’t always nice though. There were times when they argued and fought. Being two people with two different ideals and morals and style of living, they obviously would clash, and during those times, it was like there was this giant unspeakable force in the room that everyone knew existed yet no one knew how to approach the subject and by default, get rid of it.

Seonghwa was just as stubborn if not more than Hongjoong. That showed each time they disagreed on something. Hongjoong would never, ever give in and neither would Seonghwa, leaving them at this standstill where neither male tried to understand the other, leaving their frustration to stew inside of them, waiting for the other one to swallow their pride and admit they were wrong but this almost never happened. At least not without outside interference.

Being as stubborn as they were, it was only natural that none of them would willingly swallow down their pride and admit the opposing partner was right. Hongjoong didn’t like it, and neither did Seonghwa, which left the younger ones to intervene every time it happened.

It made them all uncomfortable when Hongjoong and Seonghwa argued. Seonghwa was a naturally patient and forgiving man but that wasn't always the case when he got annoyed or angry. They all knew --from past experience-- how long Seonghwa could wait, and even if he wasn't waiting, they all knew how long he could hold a grudge. It wasn't even so much of a grudge as it was a memory.

Seonghwa never used it against them though. He felt it was rather underhanded and mean, after all, it wasn't like they had made those mistakes intentionally. They just happened and Seonghwa felt like using that against his friends, his members, would be far too much. But he did threaten to. It always worked like a charm, despite never once had Seonghwa actually brought any of their past mistakes up. He occasionally wondered why none of them had realized that, and simply blamed it on their child-like memory. Seonghwa couldn't remember the last time he'd seen any of them focus on something else for more than hour that wasn't practice or singing.

Hongjoong on the other hand, released his frustrations on his computer. Whereas Seonghwa kept his emotions inside, Hongjoong let all his out on his computer and notebook. His computer had seen the most use since he spent almost all his time on it, whilst his notebook was what he carried around in case he was hit by an idea and didn't want to lose it. These two items though saw the most use when he became frustrated, or angry. Hongjoong was not very vocal about his emotions either, just like Seonghwa, but released his stress in a different way to Seonghwa.

Seonghwa spent his time cleaning or doing something with hands to keep himself busy when he felt frustrated as the smell of watered down chemicals wafting through out the dorm calmed him down immensely. Hongjoong spent his time composing or writing, trying to draw his attention from how he felt and focus on channeling that energy into something useful, which to him was, as one could guess, another song.

Hongjoong had written many songs since high school. From the short poems he'd scribble on the back of his book in class, to the small notes he'd write in his diary as a trainee and now to short verses in his notebook or computer, Hongjoong was still writing songs. He realized the silence in the room really helped him to focus his thoughts and arrange them and consequently clear his mind of unnecessary thoughts which would result in him realizing that Seonghwa was mostly right.

But there was one thing Seonghwa couldn't deny even if he tried, and he had, many, many, many times before. He obviously had a crush on Hongjoong. He knew it. His members knew it. Hongjoong was the only one who didn't. Seonghwa couldn't blame him though, he'd done everything he could to act normal around Hongjoong so as to not scare him away or ruin their friendship, but each time the younger man would come into their room and fall onto his bed and begin retelling how his day went, Seonghwa wished he could reach out and comfort him.

But he couldn't. Because the way he wanted to comfort Hongjoong was not the way friends comforted each other. Seonghwa had learned that the hard way. Which left him wanting more each time he and Hongjoong interacted. He wanted to be able to casually hold his hand without anyone making a big deal of it. He wanted to be able to call Hongjoong cute without having to use him joking around as a cover for how he really felt. Seonghwa just wanted to be able to be with Hongjoong as more than a friend, but he knew that was impossible. He'd tried once before and it ended in disaster.

* * *

“Hyung! Hurry up! We’re going to be late!” 

“I know! I know! I just gotta get my notebook, I’m coming!” Hongjoong yelled back as he dug through the pile of clothes on his bed.

“Hurry!!!” Wooyoung yelled back from the living room, the impatience clear in his voice.

“Aha! Got it!” Hongjoong exclaimed and yanked out his orange notebook from deep within the pile. He kept it under his arm, and after checking the room for anything he might have left, Hongjoong turned around and walked out of his room, increasing his pace slightly when he heard Wooyoung preparing to yell him out of his bedroom.

“Finally,” Wooyoung said and went out of the house followed by Mingi, San, Yeosang, Jongho, Yunho and Seonghwa. “Let’s go.”

Hongjoong was left to lock up the house as a punishment for being slow while the others waited for him in the car. Hongjoong quickly went down the stairs and entered into the second van with Yunho, Mingi and Jongho, leaving Seonghwa to Wooyoung, San and Yeosang. 

Hongjoong never realized it but he was always seated with the '1999' line and Seonghwa with the second half of the 1999 line each time they went out. He guessed it was because leaving the five of them together would be an incredibly noisy ride for the driver and their managers, which meant he and Seonghwa acted like their temporary babysitters.

Hongjoong didn’t really mind that much. The younger members had  a lot of energy and were fun to be around. He liked playing with them and it was never boring. But this time, something was different.

“Hyung,” Mingi asked, grabbing onto his hand and making him turn from the window and look at him. “Are you and Seonghwa-hyung still fighting?”

“What do you mean ‘fighting’? We’re not. We’re fine.” Hongjoong raised a brow and rubbed Mingi’s hand, comforting the surprisingly sensitive rapper.

“Are you sure? You two barely talked or looked a each other today?” Yunho asked, brow mimicking Hongjoongs.

“Just because we don’t talk everyday doesn’t mean we are fighting.” Hongjoong responded, matter-of-factly.  

None of them looked convinced but they didn’t push the matter and the ride to their next fansign was in silence. Hongjoong wasn’t sure when, but at some point he fell asleep and was woken up by one of them shaking his shoulder, alerting him that they’d arrived.

Hongjoong sleepily got out of the car and went into the building to get his hair and clothes done before they began their two-hour fansign in Hongdae. 

* * *

“Aaah, I’m so tired…” San whined and grabbed Yunho by the shoulder. He held his arms out, silently asking Yunho to carry him. 

“I’m tired too, Sanie.” Yunho said but still bent down and carried San on his back from the building till where their vehicles were parked, all the while San giggled and squirmed on his back.

Hongjoong rubbed at his eyes, the exhilaration and happiness from seeing their fans and spending time with them was dwindling rapidly, giving way for the exhaustion to creep up on them all. Hongjoong knew it was really bad when Yunho was tired. The boy almost never kept still and was always moving, so for him to be tired, Hongjoong knew the past few weeks must have been hard on them as well.

Hongjoong stopped rubbing at his eyes and herded three of his members into one van while the other four went into another van. Hongjoong watched the sleep in each members eyes amplify when they sat down. San almost instantly passed out while Yunho took a few seconds before he was also gone from this world leaving Mingi trying his best to stay awake but soon enough he also fell asleep. Jongho had fallen asleep long before they were even fully settled in the car 

This time, they were woken up by their manager who herded them into their house and into their beds. He reminded them twice to wash up before they fell asleep but the second he closed the door on his way out, San fell onto his bed, face first, already asleep.

Hongjoong held on for a few minutes and made sure everyone -including San- had washed at least their faces before falling asleep. He went out to check if they’d left anything on or on the gas and was surprised to see Seonghwa resting on the couch, facing the television, remote in hand as he browsed through several late night channels.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Hongjoong asked and looked at Seonghwa lift his gaze from the screen and towards him.

“I don’t feel sleepy.” Seonghwa responded and flicked to the next channel. 

“Well, I’m going to bed. I’m tired.” Hongjoong turned around and was about to walk off but Seonghwa stopped him.

“Hongjoong, wait.” Seonghwa said and Hongjoong turned to look at him over his shoulder.

“What is it?”

Seonghwa tapped the seat near him, indicating for Hongjoong to sit down. Hongjoong whined and said, “Hwa, I’m really, really tired. Can whatever you want to say wait till tomorrow?”

“There’s nothing I want to say, Joong. I just want you to watch a movie with me.”

“Hwa, I’d love to on any other day but today I’m really tired. And movies are like ninety-minutes long. I can’t stay up for that long.”

Seonghwa saw Hongjoong was till hesitating and said, “I promise you, it’s not for long. If you’re worried about falling asleep, there’s no problem, you can just fall asleep here.”

Hongjoong looked at Seonghwa and back down the hallway where his bed was, waiting for him, silently beckoning him over with the promise of a long, peaceful sleep. Hongjoong looked back at Seonghwa and sighed heavily before moving over and sitting down with him.

“When I fall asleep, you’re carrying me back to bed, as punishment.” Hongjoong warned as he sat down and got comfortable.

“You're really heavy though.” Seonghwa retorted back and received a kick in the gut.

“Deal with it.” Hongjoong said and looked at the screen. “What is it that you’re watching anyway that you need me here with you?”

“I actually don’t know yet. I was just looking around for one.” Seonghwa said and got another kick. He yelped and rubbed at the sore flesh, turning around to look back at Hongjoong with incredulity in his eyes.

“Why’d you kick me again? I didn’t do anything.” Seonghwa asked, feeling slightly wronged.

“You made me sit here with you at this time to watch a movie and you don’t even know what you want to watch?” Hongjoong and lifted his foot about to kick Seonghwa again.

“No! I do know what I want to watch!” Seonghwa lunged for the remote and clicked on the first thing he saw. Unfortunately, he was in the horror category at the moment. Seonghwa had forgotten about that small detail and clicked on the first movie which happened to be a horror movie with a rating of 7 out of 10.

“There! It’s starting, now stop kicking me.” Seonghwa said and shuffled around to get comfortable. 

“I’m warning you,” Hongjoong said as he too shuffled around on the couch to get comfortable. “I will fall asleep here.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” Seonghwa responded and proceeded to shush Hongjoong since the movie was starting and he wanted to hear it properly.

* * *

“I can’t believe you made us watch a two-hour horror movie.” Hongjoong said through clenched teeth as he held onto Seonghwa’s shirt.

“I didn’t even know it was a horror movie!” Seonghwa argued back.

“How could you not know!? It started out with a ghost and a lot of blood! That’s like the basic criteria for horror movies!” 

“I barely watch movies, how was I supposed to know there’s a criteria?”

“Because I told you! I told you we were watching a horror movie but you kept on saying it was a thriller!”

“Blood doesn’t always mean ghosts, you know…”

“What else was that floating woman we saw in the beginning supposed to be, Hwa? A doll? It was obvious from the very beginning!”

“Wait, why are you blaming me? You could have also reached for the remote and changed it.”

“How was I supposed to do that while you were clinging on to me? Not to mention, you threw the remote when you were panicking and lost it somewhere in the living room.    How was I supposed to change it with you holding on to me and the remote gone?”

Seonghwa kept silent. Hongjoong was right. In his fit of panic after a series of jumpscares, Seonghwa had hidden his face underneath the blanket and inadvertently thrown the remote halfway across the room. The loud sound of the device clattering against the floor frightened Seonghwa more and had him burrowing his face under the blanket.

Seonghwa would have told Hongjoong to go and get the remote but just as he was about to speak the lights went out, leaving them in complete and total darkness.

“Anyways,” Seonghwa said, changing the subject, “We need to find the torch and find that remote.”

“Where is it anyway? We’ve been looking for a while now.” Hongjoong grumbled and felt around the walls for a doorknob. “Don’t tell me one one of them misplaced it…”

Seonhwa paused. “Actually, that could be true.”

Hongjoong stopped as well. “.....Well, what do we do now? I’m getting tired of looking.”

“Hm..” Seonghwa hummed under his breath as he thought of the best solution to their current issue. “I think it’d be better if we went to to bed. We don’t know when the lights will return plus we have a long day ahead tomorrow. We’ll need as much rest as possible.”

Seonghwa moved aside for Hongjoong to pass and said, “You go on ahead. I’ll be behind you after I put the blanket back.”

Seonghwa moved forward, about to pass Hongjoong when a hand clutched onto his forearm. He turned back to Hongjoong questioningly. “What?”

“Well…” Hongjoong cleared his throat and avoided Seonghwa’s gaze. “The thing is…”

“Wait a minute…” Hongjoong could feel Seonghwa’s narrowed gaze hyper-focus on him as he came closer. “Are you scared? Wait, Hongjoong, are you _actually_ scared of the dark?”

Hongjoong scoffed and looked to the side, preferring to avoid any eye contact with the older man. “What are you talking about? I’m not scared!”

“Oh really?” Seonghwa’s smirk was so palpable in his voice, Hongjoong almost smacked him. “Then you’d be fine by yourself right? I’ll go find the torch and clean up here while you go to bed…..unless you’re too scared to go by yourself?”

Hongjoong was five seconds away from smacking that smirk off Seonghwa’s face but grit his teeth together and held his shoulders high. “Of course not. Ghosts don’t exist, why would I be scared of something that isn’t even real?”

“Hmm…” Seonghwa hummed and turned away. “Okay then. Sleep well.” He began walking away leaving Hongjoong in the darkness by himself. Hongjoong had brazenly declared that he could handle the darkness alone even though he was scared out of his wits from the movie. There was no way he could turn back now. Going to the bedroom alone wasn’t an option, but calling Seonghwa and having that cheeky smirk and knowing glance follow him everywhere he went was also not an option.

 _What do I do? I’d really rather stab my knee against the wall and bleed to death_ -(a bit overdramatic, Hongjoong), his mind supplied- _rather than call for Seonghwa. He’d never ever, ever let me live it down._

Hongjoong looked at the living room and over his shoulder at their bedroom. One would cause him great humiliation, while the latter could possibly give him great heart palpitations and anxiety. Hongjoong was certain the latter option was the safer one. There was a _possibility_ of him to get intensely paranoid until he couldn’t sleep but, it wasn’t set in stone. The former option would be marked on his forehead with permanent ink until the day he died, or found another weakness of Seonghwa to neutralize the threat.

 _Let’s go._ Hongjoong turned and walked to their bedroom, fumbling in the dark as he went. He smacked his hands against the walls and tried envisioning how the house usually looked like.

On the left was Mingi and Jongho’s bedroom. To the right was Yunho and San. Which meant his room was either on the far left of the corridor or on the far right. Hongjoong violently cursed his shitty memory for failing him once again, and tried walking as slowly but as naturally as possible.

He wasn’t sure how we would explain his current state if he were caught. Fumbling in the dark with no flashlight, fluently cursing his poor memory for leaving him in this state, and embedding his current situation into his brain in case he ever needed something from Seonghwa. Hongjoong eventually fumbled his way to their bedroom and opened it. He entered inside and tried to use his hands and what he remembered to guide him to his bed and fell on the bed, face first. Hongjoong sighed, suddenly all the exhaustion, previously lost in the terrors of the night, hit him full force and he was knocked out cold.

Seonghwa soon found the remote -after nearly an hour of trying not to panic and run away when his ears caught on to the weird sounds around the house. He put it back where it was supposed to be, grabbed the blanket and raced back to his and Hongjoong’s room. Seonghwa looked at his bed, on the top bunk and felt incredibly lazy to climb up. He looked back down at Hongjoong, knocked out cold, and entertained the thought of sleeping there. Seonghwa threw the blanket on the floor and removed his in-house slippers before climbing in and falling asleep beside Hongjoong. 

**Author's Note:**

> Lost Eyes is still ongoing and will be updated this month.


End file.
